Gear of the Year Roundup
The bulk of the past years testing focused on maintenance products, safety essentials, and do-it-yourself substitutes for higher priced marine gear. This was a...
New Goyer Guard vs. Firehose
It has been a while since we tested chafe gear (see PS October 2012), or since we described how to make your own chafe...
Verifying Material of Mystery Ropes
When buying rope from a store you verify its source with a glance at the spool and learn its composition, elasticity, and other characteristics...
Bottomless Lockers Be Gone
Storage is a challenge on small boats, and my new-to-me Corsair Marine F-24 trimaran was particularly Spartan this regard. The skinny hulls provided minimum...
Try a Barber Hauler for Better Sail Trim
If you can't position the jib clew exactly where you want it on all courses and in all weather, a barber hauler should be...
Online Help for Autumn
It's getting to be that time of year, when many skippers haul out or head south. Fall also heralds the beginning of boat show...
A Custom-fitted Clew Strap
After settling on the material, one of the most basic mainsail design questions is whether to have an attached foot or loose-foot. A sail...
Years Later, Mast Mate Still Riding High
Mast steps are a great help when going aloft, but they add weight where it hurts most (aloft), and halyards love to get stuck...
Controlling Motion: Two Case Studies
Securing a small boat between pilings in a wrong-sized slip is a common challenge. The dock line angles from the dolphins (outlying pilings) are...
Reducing the Nylon Rode Sling-shot Effect
Again we speak heresy! Practical Sailor has published at least four articles explaining why stretchy nylon bridles and snubbers are vital. But if the...
Catalina 34 Used Boat Review
Are you shopping for a 30 to 36 foot sailboat? One of the hottest selling mid thirty footers on the used sailboat market right...
Latest Sailboat Review
Caliber 40 LRC Used Boat Review
Brothers George and Michael McCreary, and Marshall Jones, formed Caliber Yachts Inc. as a backyard boatbuilding company in 1979. No strangers to the sailing...